Nvidia, Facebook and 13 other companies are the real earnings-season winners Investors would be wise to focus on sales per share and gross marginsInvestors would be wise to focus on sales per share and gross margins, says Phil van Doorn.

Interpublic's stock pulls back sharply from 15-year high after profit and sales missShares of Interpublic Group of Companies tumbled in premarket trade Tuesday, after the advertising company missed second-quarter profit and sales expectations. Net profit fell to $94.7 million, or 24 cents a share, from $156.9 million, or 38 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 27 cents, below the FactSet consensus of 34 cents. Revenue slid 1.7% to $1.88 billion from $1.92 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $1.95 billion. "Client spending in the quarter reflected increased caution, but we don't see evidence of a broad-based economic downturn," said Chief Executive Michael Roth. The stock, which closed at a 15-year high on Monday, had rallied 9.2% year to date through Monday, while the S&P 500 had climbed 10.3%.

Sprint moves media account to HorizonSprint Corp. has moved its $700 million media agency business from Publicis Groupe's Mediavest Spark to independent media agency Horizon Media in one of the largest account changes of the year. The win gives Horizon Chief Executive Bill Koenigsberg another feather in his cap as he expands his independent media operation.

Interpublic Q1 profit beats estimates, but revenue falls shortInterpublic Group of Cos. said Friday it had net income of $21.5 million, or 5 cents a share, in the first quarter, up from $5.4 million, or 1 cent a share, in the year-earlier period. The operator of advertising agencies said revenue edged up to $1.75 billion from $1.74 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 3 cents and revenue of $1.76 billion. "Against very challenging comparisons, we showed solid organic revenue growth in the quarter, with contributions from across our agencies and all marketing disciplines," Chief Executive Michael Roth said in a statement. The first quarter is usually a seasonally small one for Interpublic, he said, but the company is on track to achieve full-year targets of organic revenue growth of 3% to 4% and to improve operating margins by 50 basis points. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but have gained 7% in 2017, while the S&P 500 has gained 5%.

Interpublic Group CEO comments on DoJ ad probeInterpublic Group of Cos. on Friday reported solid fourth-quarter and year-end results, but the ad holding company's chief had to answer some tough questions regarding a continuing Justice Department probe into production of ads and heightened competition from consultancies.

Interpublic raises dividend by 20%, unveils new $300 mln share buybackAdvertising giant Interpublic Group said Friday it is raising its quarterly dividend by 20% to 18 cents a share. The company said the new dividend will be payable March 15 to holders of record as of March 1. The company also unveiled a new $300 million share buyback program. Shares rose 3% premarket and are up 14% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has gained 25%.

Snapchat asks for multiple $100 to $200 million ad commitments before IPO Messaging service wants 2017 commitments from WPP, Omnicom and other ad companiesAs Snap Inc. woos Wall Street ahead of its initial public offering, the parent of the popular messaging app is also spending plenty of time courting another constituency: advertisers on Madison Avenue.

Interpublic confirms DOJ looking into video production practicesShares of Interpublic Group of Companies slumped 1.3% in morning trade Wednesday, after the advertising company confirmed that it has been contacted by regulators regarding video production practices. The company's statement follows that the U.S. Justice Department was investigating whether ad agencies engaged in bid rigging by steering business to their in-house units over independent companies. In Wednesday's statement, Interpublic said one of its standalone domestic agencies was contacted by the DOJ's antitrust division for documents regarding video production practices. The company said it was cooperating with the investigation. "The policies in our company's Code of Conduct require that we do business in a manner that is fully consistent with the best interests of our clients--in the case of production, that means requiring triple bids on all projects above a minimal dollar threshold," the company said in its statement. The stock has lost 1.4% year to date, while the S&P 500 has gained 8.2%.

Interpublic confirms that it has been contacted by DOJ for video production practices

Interpublic boosts outlook as profit, revenue riseInterpublic Group of Cos. boosted its full-year outlook as it reported 4.3% growth in organic revenue for the third quarter and beat Wall Street's expectations. The New York-based company said it now expects organic revenue growth -- a closely followed metric in the advertising industry that strips out foreign-exchange fluctuations as well as acquisitions and disposals -- to increase between 4% and 5%.

Interpublic Group of Companies started at top pick with $27 stock price target at RBC Capital

3:18 a.m. Oct. 7, 2016

Interpublic Group started at outperform with $27 stock price target at Credit Suisse

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